Improvement in tubular knit fabrics



4 Sheets-4611601; 4. B. L. STOWE.

Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

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B. L. STOWE. Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

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B. L. STOWE.

Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

W K yfm N. PETERS, FHOT0-UTHOGRAPHER. wAsHmsToN a c mrnnsmres PATENTQFFlGE.

BENJAMIN nisrow'n, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAND. REED,

OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT-IN TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS. I

Specificationforming part ofLetters Patent No- 222327, dated December 2,1879 application filed September 12, 187 9.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN L. STOWE,

of the city, county, am d-State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Im pro vefollowing is a specification.

My invention is directed to a tubular knit fabric, designed particularlyfor fire or hydraulic hose, but also adapted for other uses.

ments in Tubular Knit Fabrics, of which the My object is to obtain afabric which, while equally as strong as, or even stronger than,ordinary fabrics of this kind or-class, shall containless weight ofmaterial.

The fabric is characterized by thecombination, with longitudinal strandsand the ordinary knitting thread or warp, ofa spirallywound weft laidbetween the said strands and knittin g-warp, and an independentwarpwhich binds together the longitudinal strands and the knitting-warp uponthe intermediate weft. By knitting-warp I intend the thread or threadssuchas are taken by the vertical needlesin ordinary knittingmachines.

' The independentbinding-warp referred to consists of one or morewarpthreads independent ofthe knitting-warp, and. taken and operated onbya set of needles independent of that set which operates on theknitting- ,thread,in such manner thatthe loops shall extend from theinside ,to', the outside, of the fabric v I .prefer to use fforythebinding-warp two I threads, one of which is, deliveredto its needles ata point withinthe circle of longitudinal strands, and the other at. apointbetween the longitudinal inner strands of the fabric and the :outerknitting-warp.

To enable otherstounderstand and use my invention, I shall describe themachinery whichI prefer to employ for the manufacture of my improvedfabricfland will tlien describe the method of making, and the structureof, said fab'ric. p n r l :1 would, hfwe'ver, that date -herewith.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional end view of thefabric on an enlarged scale. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a part of thesame. Fig. 3 is an elevation of so much of a knitting-machine as isneeded to illustrate my invention. Fig. 4 is a vertical central sectionof the same. Fig. 5 is a plan of the same with the longitudinal{strand-guides removed.

B is the upright needle-oylin'deron bed A, provided withordinarylatch-needles a, attached to blanks 'a.

G is the upright cam-ring, receivingmotion from driving-shaft l) throughbevel-gears 0 0 all of which, being similar to the corresponding partsin ordinary upright circularknittingmachines, require nofurtherdescription.

Attached to the upper end of the upright needle-cylinder is a horizontalneedle-plate, E, having in its upper face radial grooves, in whichhorizontal needles d and their-blanks d slide to and from the center ofthe machine,

each horizontal needle (I passing midway be tween the two contiguousvertical needles.

F is the horizontal cam-plate which operates the horizontal needles,andwhich is attached to and receives its rotary motion from the uprightcam-ring O, by means ofarms F. The stitches may be lengthened orshortened by the usual appliances.

From the bed A rises aerra m A, which carries two large annular plates,G H, each perforated with a number of .holes. Below these plates andcarried by the'lowerone, H,

is a third and smaller annulus, I, formed either with a series ofperforations or with notches in itsinner edge. Usually the number ofperforations or notches will-equal" the number of verticalneedles,and{theperforations or notches of the lower platefl, are soplaced as to lie in a circle of. thesamediameter as, or a little smallermanager, thecir- ;.jcle formed by the vertical insFig. 4..

needles,as shown The devices just describedY'are intended to guide thelongitudinal strands or cords5 to proper position. These strands arecarried in any convenient manner from the spoolsupon which they arewound to a pointover the machine, whence they are brought down throughthe perforations in plates G H I, passing from the latter plate downinto the fabric vertically that is to say, in a line parallel, or nearlyso, with the axis of the machine.

Knitting-warp 2 is supplied to the vertical needles from one or morebobbins, 1', through hook j and eye It in arm k, the said bobbins i,hook j, and arm 76 being carried by and moving with the horizontalcam-plate F.

The binding-warp, which in this instance consists of two threads, 1 4,is supplied to the horizontal needles through guides g and 1', each ofwhich at its end has an eye through which the thread is delivered.

The guide g, which delivers the warp-thread 1, is mounted on and moveswith the vertical shaft J, which is hung in proper hearings in frame Ain the prolongation of the vertical axis of the machine, and derivesrotary motion from the main driving-shaft through shafts J J andbevel-gearing, as indicated in Fig. 3. The shaft rotates at a speeduniform with that of the cam-rings. It carries on an arm, 6, the bobbinf, on which the thread 1 is wound. It also carries on the same arm towhich the guide 9 is attached a toothed wheel, h.

The warp-thread 1 is delivered by the guide at a point inside the circleof longitudinal strands. The warp-thread 4 is supplied through asuitable guide or guides, as indicated at a", from a bobbin, m, carriedby the horizontal cam-ring F. The guide 1" delivers this warp at a pointjust outside the circle of longitudinal strands, or between thelongitudinal strands and the loops of the knitting-thread of thevertical needles.

The two guides deliver their respective threads in such position thatboth will be taken by each horizontal needle. The toothed wheel h isused to insure that the inner warp-thread, 1, shall be so laid as to becaught by the hook of the needle. Its teeth work in the spaces betweenthe horizontal needles as they would work in a rack.

The weft 3, which lies in a spiral coil between the longitudinal strands5 within and the knitting-thread 2 without, and has each of its coursesbound in place by the loops of the binding-warp, is supplied from abobbin, 1, carried by cam ring or plate F. It passes through the tensionn, or its equivalent, and then to the guide 0, by which it is deposited.This guide consists of an arm attached to camring F, extending inwardlyuntil it nearly touches the longitudinal strands as they pass to theworking-point, and then downwardly at nearly a right angle until itspoint from which the weft is delivered is just below the level of thehorizontal needles.

Sufficient of the machine has been described toindicate one way in whichmy improved tubular fabric can practically be produced.

The mode of operation is briefly as follows, the parts moving in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, and it being supposed thatsome knitting has already been done in the machine: The guide 0 depositsthe weft 3 at a point below the level of the horizontal needles. Thelatter, moved properly by their cam, take the binding-warps l 4 as theyare delivered by the guides r and g, which follow guide 0, and form theloops which extend from the inside to the outside of the fabric, bindingtogether the longitudinal strands 5 and the knitting-warp 2. The latter,delivered to the vertical-needles guide k, which follows guide 1", isknitted by said needles in the usual way.

The fabric thus formed is shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the differentthreads being indicated by their appropriate reference letters orfigures.

The fabric is somewhat similar in external appearance to the fabricproduced by other machinery of this class, but has less of a grooverunning longitudinally between the stitches. There are, however, as willbe perceived by examination of the figures referred to, radical(inferences between this fabric and other knit fabrics heretoforemade-di fferen ces which result in great advantages in respect tostrength and durability.

Every stitch or loop has immediately behind it a cord entirelyindependent of it, and these cords continuously overlap one another,thereby giving increased strength as, for instance, each stitch of theknitting-warp 2 has behind it the cords of the binding-warp 1 4, asindicated at as, and each stitch 'of the bindingwarp has behind it thecords of the knittingwarp 2, as indicated at y.

In the structure shown in the drawings, the part of the one warp whichbacks the stitch of the other warp runs parallel with the weft 3 forsome distance, thereby very materially assisting the weft instrengthening the fabric.

Again, in a fabric knit only upon one set of needles, the same cordsmust enter into every stitch of the same course about the tube, and if asingle stitch become out the stitches upon either side of it areimmediately loosened, and the whole of the looped fabric at that pointis destroyed; whereas byknitting upon two sets of needles, as described,in combination with the longitudinal strands or cords and the weft 3, inthe event of "any single stitch being out there is still behind itanother warp, which not only holds the stitches upon either side of it,but prevents the fabric from gaping open at that point.

The additional strength thus obtained, and the improved surface procuredin consequence of one longitudinal row of stitches being placed in whatwould otherwise be a. groove between the stitches of the adjoining rowson each side, enables me with lessweight of material to make a fabricequally as strong as, or even 'sgronger than, ordinary knit fabrics ofthis 0 ass.

I remark, in conclusion, that while I prefer The warp 1, which extendsfrom the inside to the outside of the fabric, may alone be em- I ll.

ployed, the prime object bein g to bind together the knittin g-warp andthe longitudinal strands upon the intermediate Weft.

The warp 4, however, deposited'as shown,

gives increased strength and durability to the fabric, and can beadvantageously used in connection with warp 1.

For some purposesthe weft maybe deposited outside of the circle ofvertical needles instead 'of within, so as to be heldin position by theknitting-warp and binding-warp, either with or without the use of thelongitudinal strands; but it is not generally desirable to do so.

Having described my improved tubular knit fabric and one way in which itcan practically be produced, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. i In. a tubular knit fabric, the combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, of longitudinal strands, knitting-warp, andintermediate weft with an independent warp which is knit into loopsindependent of and alternatin g with those of the knitting threador'warp, and binds the said longitudinal strands and knitting-Warptogether upon the intervening weft. I 2. A tubular knit fabric composedof longitudinal strands, knitting-warp, and intermediate weft, incombination with an independent binding-warp whose loops are composed oftwo cords, or sets of cords, extending to the exterior of the fabric,the one from the interior of the fabric and the other from a pointintermediate between the knitting-warp and the longitudinal strands,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand. a

BENJAMIN L. STOWE. Witnesses: U

ALMET REED, NATHAN STOWE.

